


Dealing with the Aftermath

by Lady_Kaie



Series: The Light That Has Returned [7]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Competition, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Humor, M/M, Multi, Other, Sex, Violence, notsogoodwithtags!, overbearingmen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:27:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24863047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Kaie/pseuds/Lady_Kaie
Summary: Hollister is gone but now his family wants retribution.  In Tenebrae the royal families handled their problems amongst each other with little interference from the Crown.  Insomnia does not work like that and things are going to have to change.Meryda needs to find a way to make her old life work with her new life while deciding if she wants to be a doormat for her mother and society, or if she wants to be the leader she has always trained to be.Luckily she'll have help along the way from a brand new Scientia.  (Introducing Ignis' little sister)
Relationships: Gladiolus Amicitia/Original Female Character(s), Ignis Scientia/Original Female Character(s), Original Female Character/Original Female Character, Prompto Argentum/Noctis Lucis Caelum, Ravus Nox Fleuret/Original Female Character(s)
Series: The Light That Has Returned [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1711141
Kudos: 2





	1. Attack in broad daylight

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own nor do I profit from FFXV or Square Enix

It all happened faster than she had anticipated, though she had anticipated it nonetheless, but still she couldn’t help but be impressed with their success in catching her off guard or getting in the hits that they did. The morning had been just another day getting ready for and leaving to go to work. Of course they would come for her then, away from the Citadel and the watchful eyes of the Hand to the King where if they were caught the Scientia Duke would have them locked up without question.

This wasn’t between the Tenebrae Houses and some Insomnia official though, this was official business and would stay between the two parties involved. The parties being five individual’s from Hollister house against one member of the Strigan house. Now five on one wasn’t even close to fair, but when dealing with a lone Strigan one often needed to up the odds because those raised under the banner of Bahamut came out kicking and swinging from day one of entry into the world. They were the top warriors of Tenebrae for a reason, so when the five women of Hollister house that had been chosen by the others in their house, since the Elder refused to entertain starting a problem, they knew that they somewhat stood a chance against the future Elder of the Strigan House.

They cornered her just outside of her home on that hot June morning and while staring down the blond, despite being five, her eerie smile gave them pause. “Well… let’s get this over with shall we?” She taunted them, waiting for a move to come for her.

Had any one of them been in such a position they would have tried to run, or talk their way out, but not a Strigan girl. No, these women had been bred to fight, and the wild look in the eldest daughter’s bright eyes promised that she wouldn’t go quietly, they were going to come out just as damaged as she was.

It took a long few moments before one woman reacted to the taunt and within ten, the battle was over. Six individual’s lay moaning in pain on the ground while the passersby in the street continued on about their day as if nothing had happened just a few feet from them. But something had happened, and those involved in the brawl knew that this was just the beginning.

*******

Maery almost laughed when the women from Hollister house suddenly found their feet and scurried out of her way as she made to reach her sister before any of them could get the bright idea to try anything more. One female made a move to Meryda’s prone body, but with a quick kick in the ass, the woman went sprawling, skinning her palms and knees up on the pavement. “You know the rules… Once everyone’s down, it’s over.” The smaller woman snarled.

The final individual got her feet under her and scurried off in the direction of her family which left Maery alone with Meryda. Glancing down at her sister who was laughing through the blood in her mouth, she sighed and shook her head. “Five on one… those bitches.” It had been underhanded and shameful, but technically legal in terms of Tenebraean House customs. The maximum amount a family could attack another family was five, though most house concerns were often handled one on one, Strigan’s were always met with more. 

Meryda kept herself flat on the paved ground of the parking lot behind the apartment complex Insomnia had given them when they moved in and tried to assess her battle wounds. She should have been panicking, but for the moment she was thrilled that this moment was at an end because if the Hollister’s tried anything else, her family would have the right to join in.

Such a foolish, archaic system that was still in place despite centuries of evolution, but for some reason this particular law didn’t change. In Tenebraean House law, if one house wronged another then said house was allowed to challenge the other to a duel. It was a way of ‘righting’ the wrong. There were a few situations that required a formal ruling, such as if someone accused another house of something and it tarnished their reputation and it turned out that it wasn’t true. Duels could essentially be enacted for any reason from a misguided look, to stepping on someone’s toe. It was absolutely stupid.

In this case, Meryda’s circumstance had been decided by the Prince and therefore would not be given a formal ruling because the decision was made outside of the Houses. This move left Meryda open to House Law because there was no hope of retribution for Deacon. Therefore the members had given Meryda a ‘punishment’ as they saw fit and used the law to get away with it. This wasn’t the first time the law had been twisted to suit a purpose and it wouldn’t be the last.

“Bitches is right.” She was flat on her back, blood running into her swollen eye while her head reeled from the far too bright morning sun. “I think I have a concussion.”

“Probably. You look rough.” Maery stood over Meryda’s body in an attempt to block out the sun. Her right eye was swollen and there was a large gash on her forehead from who knew what, that was going to require stitches. Her clothes were a tattered mess, her left forearm was definitely broken, and chances were that her knee right knee was sprained judging from how swollen it was. These were the main wounds, but there were several small abraisons that would be more annoying for the woman than anything. “You want your potion now?” Maery held up the vial and delivered it into the shaking palm that was ready for it.

Again, another rule. The attacked individual was allowed one potion and the rest had to heal naturally. Meryda uncorked the vail and let the liquid slide down her throat, careful not to waste a drop. Her forehead sealed up, most of her scratches went away and the swelling in her knee went down. Also the sun was no longer so offensive to her senses. “I think I can get up now.”

Maery pulled her larger sister off of the ground and got the eldest’s arm around her shoulder so that she could support most of the weight. “Hospital?”

“Yeah.” Her arm had begun to throb in extreme protest of what had happened to it, but there was no bone poking through the skin so that was one bonus to the whole ordeal. “You’ll have to call Ignis… tell him I’ll be late.”

A matching pair of bright blue gems found their way up toward the oldest Strigan daughter with a semi incredulous glare in them. “Yeah right. You aren’t coming to work, he’s going to freak out.” And by freak out, Maery meant he was going to throw a conniption fit that would rival Ifrit’s when he attacked the mortals.

“Oh Gods…” She groaned, knowing full well how screwed she was. After vacation they had grown even closer than before and what she knew about Ignis was that if you were important to him, he was insanely overprotective. Maybe… maybe they hadn’t reached that stage of their relationship yet? She could only hope.

Maery got the taller woman into their shared car and made her way to the hospital, cutting in and out of traffic like she was in a high speed chase. Meryda fired off a group text to Noctis, Ignis, her mother, Luna and Gladio.

Heading to the hospital… will be in when I am discharged. Everything’s fine.

Gladio: What the Hell happened?

Luna: Oh Meryda take care… do you want me to come down? Maery must be with you.

Noctis: You sure you should come in?

Mother: So it happened… I’ll be there shortly.

Ignis: What happened? I’ll meet you at the hospital. Noct I’m stepping out.

Noctis: That’s fine. Tell her to stay home and rest. I know she won’t listen to me.

Meryda: I’m not listening to either of you, I’ll be in.

Luna: Meryda as your Queen I am ordering you to remain home.

Mother: She’s fine…

Luna: Myori I would prefer she rest. You and I will meet to discuss this archaic system that doesn’t have a place in today’s world. I am quite tired of it.

Noctis: Do I need to be there?

Luna: YES

Mother: NO!

Ignis: All of you stop. I will decide what is happening when I arrive.

Mother: She can work. And if not then she will come home to her apartment.

Ignis: Then I shall stay with her this evening.

Mother: You two are just dating you don’t have to spend so much time together.

Gladio: Isn’t that what people who are dating do?

Luna: Myori that is quite enough. Your daughter is 30 years old, she can have Ignis stay.

Meryda groaned in complete disbelief that her Queen was arguing with her mother about her boyfriend staying with her. While it was nice to have Luna on her side, who could technically order Myori to do what she wanted, it was obnoxious that her mother and her close friend were telling a thirty year old woman what she could and could not do. “Take it! I don’t even want to deal. Where’s Miva?”

Maery snatched the phone away and pocketed it. There was no way she was jumping into this arguement even if it would be immensely hilarious. “She’s with Ravus. They spent the vacation here to help Luna in Noctis’ stead. They left yesterday for their own week off.” The Prince and the Priestess were getting very cozy, much to Myori’s disdain. If there was going to be a match between royalty and her children then she wanted it to be Meryda, not the youngest. There was no pleasing their mother.

Considering that she was a lost cause, being a lesbian and all, the Elder Strigan had become increasingly obsessed with the aspects of her daughters’ lives that she could control. IT wasn’t going well. Maery wheeled her sister into the E.R. and once the staff knew who they were, Meryda was sent for x-rays and then to a back room to wait for the results.

As soon as Meryda got settled on the bed, she heard the telltale rumbling of several voices beyond the door. Voices that she knew… “Oh shit.” There were at least four people en route to the bed she was occupying in one of the waiting rooms. 

Maery nodded her acceptance of such a statement and shifted away from the door to the other side of the bed. “You’re so screwed.”

“Ugh I know.” She was thirty damnit! Not five! And even at five she had dealt with her own broken bones and getting to the hospital without her mother’s help. 

Within seconds the small room was overrun with four very irate individuals, all angry for different reasons. Luna, her Queen, dressed in her usual white dress and short white boots, she was frowning so hard her lips had almost disappeared. Myori who had been ready for meetings at the Bahamut shrine, was preparing a new verbal attack for the Queen when she met her daughter’s gaze who shook her head. “No.” Meryda demanded, looking toward the two men who had followed in the woman and sighed. “You all didn’t need to come.”

Gladio motioned to Luna, who didn’t have a guard due to Maery being with her sister. “She needed an escort. And next time I’ll let Nyx do it because these two haven’t stopped arguing!” HE all but growled at Luna and Myori both. The two had fallen into bickering the moment they got in the car together. “And what the hell is the archaic system.”

“Indeed.” Ignis pushed forward until he was at Meryda’s side and glanced down at his wounded girlfriend. Her eye was swollen, but not fully shut and there was a rather large gash on her forehead, along with the broken and sprained portions of her body. He didn’t like this one bit. “What on earth happened?!” 

“The Hollister house took out their vengeance on Meryda for getting Deacon fired.”

“What? Do we need to arrest them?” Gladio’s dark features morphed from annoyed to downright furious. The concept that another House would attack a Citadel worker close to the Queen and King without even trying to hide their actions was a blatant disrespect to the Crown. 

Myori rolled her eyes at the Shield and shook her head. “No. They were within their rights by House Law.” Turning to her daughter on the bed she smiled broadly and nodded her approval. “I heard five attacked you. I was briefed on the way that each one of them came to the hospital with more than one semi-serious injury.” She couldn’t have been more proud.

And that pride earned her sickened looks from everyone save her daughters who just ignored their content matriarch. The two men couldn’t even contemplate something to say to such a disgusting comment, but Luna could. Flashing blue eyes raked over the Elder of Bahamut’s house with condemnation. “This is enough. I am ordering a meeting of all of the Houses to discuss this. I want it stricken from the bylaws.”

The Elder actually had the audacity to laugh at the Queen. “They are House laws and you are exempt by making decisions amongst them…”

“I am. But I am not exempt from putting my own law into effect or forcing you to conform to Crown City laws.” Luna motioned to Gladio for the information she needed and the larger soldier immediately complied.

Arms crossed his arms in a show of complete authority as he stared down Myori in all of her Elder glory, dressed in a finely pressed suit and looking every bit the regal Duchess that she was, he didn’t even bat an eye when her silver eyes hardened in rage. “There are multiple charges. Assault to a high ranking member of society, Assault on a Citadel worker, Assault on an Advisor to the King, Pre-meditated assault, Attempted murder,”

“What!”

Gladio nodded at the irate woman and continued. “Two on one with extreme injuries is enough to pin someone with attempted murder, but five on one?” He chuckled with a darkness coloring the sound, “Well… that looks really bad.” Even if they all knew they wouldn’t murder Meryda, the city of Insomnia wouldn’t know and a jury would be very empathetic toward the woman who had been attacked by five other people. 

“This is Tenebrae’s custom…”

“The Crown City cannot willingly allow justice to fall into someone elses hands. We are a large city and to submit to anyone and accept violence in the population without consequence is too dangerous of a precedent.” There was no way Gladio was going to allow his city to fall into ruin because of some ridiculous House rule that had been enacted long ago when those House’s had been the law. They were the law no longer.

Myori snarled at the soldier and then turned to her Queen, “You cannot possible accept this.”

“I can and I do. We are no longer in Tenebrae. We cannot follow our old rules without consequences. Gladiolus is right. If we allow that, then we would have to make it acceptable for anyone, including the houses of Insomnia.” And if Insomnia households took to attacking or being attacked it would cause a massive fissure in the already unstable society.

Myori turned toward her girls who refused to say anything on the matter, but eventually she pushed at them, needing someone on her side. Meryda of course took up the task of going against her mother. “Luna is right.”

Myori snapped, stalking straight up to the wounded woman and snapped her hand across her cheek. Or she would have if Ignis hadn’t stopped her. The Advisor was left ducking another swing of her free hand, and Gladio moved in to subdue the Elder and remove her from Meryda’s bedside. “That’s enough.” He bit out in her ear, pinning her to his solid frame so that she couldn’t get away.

Ignis was in a near snit that Meryda would be attacked again, and by her mother no less, who he knew wasn’t the most gentle woman but for Astrals sake! She had broken bones and was in the hospital! “Darling…”

Meryda waved her lover off and turned to Luna. “I agree. And I will back you. There are too many things that can go wrong with this law now that we are in Insomnia. And we can’t expect them to conform totally to our rituals, we have to compromise.”

“You disappoint me Meryda.” The Elder stated heatedly, jerking her head to the side so as not to look at her daughter. Which was fine by the eldest Strigan child, guilt stopped working on her years ago.

“Fine. So sorry that I don’t want to cause problems or let households in Insomnia think they can just attack Tenebrae citizens because they feel wronged. We are a single society, things cannot stay the same.” A knock on the door interrupted the conversation that wasn’t going to go in a positive direction for the Strigan Elder.

The doctor stepped into a very tense environment save for the poor woman, who was surrounded by a host of angry individuals, that he was in to see. “I am going to have to ask you all to leave.”

The complaints rose up before Meryda could hush everyone, and looking to Maery she waited for her sister to handle the situation.

“SHUT IT!” Maery shouted in her training squad voice. The room fell silent. “Go ahead Doc.”

The doctor waited for his patient to weigh in and when he was given the go ahead, he sidled up to the lit board and put two x-rays that needed to be addressed. “You have a slight fracture in your knee, you will need to wear a brace for about a month. And your left radius is broken. You will be in a cast for two months. I am recommending that you are off of work for two weeks.”

Collective groans and sounds of relief all rose up at once in the little room, all except from Meryda who was growing more and more irritated by the moment. “I want to work. What will my limitations be.” Staying at home wasn’t an option and her heavy gaze that was settled right on the medical official said so.

The doctor knew better than to try and reassessed his strategy for the woman’s care. “Four weeks, very limited action on your knee. No walking long distances, if you do have to be up it is done with your brace. In fact for the first two weeks I would recommend crutches or a wheelchair.” Recommend because he knew how Glaives, soldiers, and the upper echelons of Citadel employees pretty much did what they wanted. “After two weeks we will check your mobility. It is a very small fracture. Then we will begin physical therapy.” It went unspoken that there would be a series of potion healing to speed up the process.

Myori scoffed and glared at her daughter. “You won’t use potions.” 

“She will use what she needs to heal.” Ignis had stayed silent thus far because if he opened his mouth to speak he was going to shout the woman through the ground and it would do no good to lose his temper in the hospital. However, when the mother of his girlfriend all but told her child that she would not heal herself and live through the unneeded pain, he couldn’t stay silent any longer. 

Myori glared at her daughter but she was on the losing end of this entire ordeal. “The meeting will be called for Thursday.” Luna decided, turning to Maery to pencil it in much to the displeasure of her most loyal Elder.

“This will not pass.” 

Luna ignored the commentary and motioned to Gladio. “I’ll need the King there to explain official law. Since we are part of the Crown City he can explain that while Tenebrae officials will not press charges, the King and Crown can and will do so.” 

There wasn’t a lot of wiggle room for Myori to argue as Luna set up a situation that the House Laws would not stand up against. When they joined Insomnia, the House Elders signed an agreement that they would adhere to Lucian laws. Which meant that the Crown had absolute authority to press charges. Though he probably wouldn’t if Meryda asked him not to.

A look passed between the two women that signaled a pact was made. Neither was happy about it. “I will ask Noctis not to press charges. But you have to sign the agreement on Thursday.” There would be an agreement that no further House Laws would be enacted under the jurisdiction of the Crown City. 

Myori stalked from the room, slamming the door on the way out. The others were not sad to see her go. “Man she’s a piece of work.” Gladio kept it clean because it wasn’t his mother, but he really wanted to call her a psycho bitch. Somehow he didn’t think Meryda or Maery would appreciate it.

Maery chuckled and kissed her sister’s forehead. “You going home?”

Meryda sighed heavily and rested against the pillow behind her head. “I don’t want to deal with her hounding me or fussing for the rest of the week.” Just a month and a half and she was free!

The brunette nodded her understanding and stepped over to Luna. “Well I’ll head to work. I’m sure Gladio has things to do. Iggy… you’ll stay here right?”

“Wild Jabberwocks could not chase me away.” He muttered flatly, barely containing his outrage toward the continuous insults that had assaulted him in a manner of minutes. Meryda was attacked, Meryda was not going to press charges, and Myori was mad at her daughter for not allowing unnecessary beatings to continue. 

Once the small group, left, Meryda was alone with the doctor, Ignis and herself. Right about now this whole event had been more painful than getting jumped by five other women. Exhausted and it wasn’t even ten a.m., Meryda tilted her face up to Ignis’ strained features and attempted to smile. He did not return the gesture. “Iggy…”

“No. Do not Iggy me. And do not tell me that things are fine. Nothing can make this fine and I will not accept being placated when you have been hurt when you were completely vindicated in getting that piece of trash fired!” A few pieces of the man’s perfectly coiffed hair slid free of the hold that gel provided as Ignis tried his best to reign in his temper. “No more Meryda.” He informed her firmly, unable to accept that she had gotten hurt and her mother had been… proud!

The patch up process went rather quickly all things considered, and when Meryda was discharged with a heavy dose of painkillers for what would be settling in any time now that the adrenaline was gone, she was sent on her way. Ignis drove them back to her shared apartment in complete silence, and even when they were upstairs in the space she called home, he still remained quiet.

Ignis hadn’t really paid a significant amount of attention to Meryda’s apartment before, but what he could remember was that it was much like Prompto and Noctis’. Filled with wall to wall crap! There wasn’t a clean surface anywhere, and there was absolutely no rhyme or reason to their decorating either. The furniture was made up of a hodgepodge of styles that clearly corresponded to one of the sisters, with a variety of colors and patterns that did not match. What he could say, was that the home was clean, just overly cluttered.

Once Meryda was perched in her queen sized bed that was overflowing with pillows and blankets, Ignis gathered up a quick bite to eat for them both and made his way to her side. On the tray there were sandwiches, veggies, and a few little treats he could spoil her with. “Are you ready to eat?”

“Yeah.” Meryda pushed herself up to recline on her pillows and smiled at her boyfriend who was tugging his tie loose and looking for all the world like he was uncomfortable. “I have some clothes you can change into.” The sweat pants would be a little large for him considering her shapely form, but there was a draw string so it would solve the problem.

“Yes, perhaps that is a good idea.” He replied offhandedly. After being pointed in the direction of a drawer in her dresser, the tall Advisor retrieved a pair of grey sweats and a white thermal top that looked familiar. Holding it up for closer inspection he grinned and cast a glance at his girlfriend who had become intrigued by the plate on her lap. “You can ask you know… I’d give you anything you want.”

She knew he would. He already tried to and that generosity was still new and a little intimidating for her. Ignis rarely asked for something in return, but gave a lot of himself to those around him. Naturally his friends, and she, reciprocated in kind because he was very appreciated. But it was so unnatural for her to ask for wants or desires. “Gotta give me some time Iggy.” She whispered to him, taking his hand when he sat down on the edge of her bed with his serious green eyes all for her. “Can I be cuddled now?” 

Ignis smiled and stroked a line down Meryda’s face before moving to her bathroom so that he could change. His formal wear was folded neatly and placed on the counter top and once he was dressed again, he made his way to the bed to eat. In his home he would never do this, and was loathe to do it here, but Meryda was exhausted and needed the rest so he wouldn’t fuss. Besides, it was her bed. “Rest my Darling…”

“You’ll stay?”

“All night angel.” He whispered against her wild locks of gold, feeling her drift off immediately after she was done with her food. With the television going and his phone to keep him occupied with matters that could not wait for his attention, Ignis spent his day in bed, curled with the woman he was easily falling in love with, and plotting ways to drive her to insanity in the next few days.

She wasn’t going to be impressed, but as he glanced down at her marred features, he couldn’t find it in him to care. If she wouldn’t look out for herself, then he would.

************

Hope you enjoyed! There will be more coming up


	2. Bodyguard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ignis wants Meryda to be safe when she is out and abuot from now on. So Gladio is enlisted to prepare a Glaive Guard for her.
> 
> Meryda is hardly impressed and turns things to her advantage.

“What the hell?!” Meryda was standing down in the training rooms on Wednesday, which was supposed to be a light day of work, mostly at Ignis’ side, but at lunch he had been called out and Gladio took the time to come retrieve her. 

Now she was staring at ten Glaives who looked overly proud of themselves. Nuh uh! No way! “Ignis do this?”

“Yep!” The brick wall of a man stated with a massive smile on his face, no doubt very impressed with himself. Meryda on the other hand was not impressed. “You need to pick one to be your guard.”

Of course she did! “I don’t believe this…”

“Well believe it, and Noct even backed up the request.” The smugness on his face only intensified as he stared down at Meryda like she was a helpless little woman. She was going to helpless little woman him soon, right in his tender parts!

There were other Glaives down in the training room, practicing in the distance and one in particular caught her eye. It was Ignis’ sister, if she was seeing things right. Mostly the woman was a tiny blue and black blur, skirting around her opponent with an impressive amount of speed and clearly winning her spar. The fighting style reminded her a little of Miva, who used her speed as an asset in battle, but the bulk wasn’t there. All Strigan’s enjoyed hand to hand combat and knew how to take a punch. Judging from Liz, she could take a punch, she was a scrapper, and that was something Meryda could appreciate.

“I want her.” She called out loudly enough for the petite female to hear and stop mid attack. Her opponent was already on the ground and sighed out in relief when the smaller Glaive walked away to see what the commotion was about.

Gladio looked to see who Meryda was talking about and shook his head. “Nuh uh. No way. I picked out these ten.” If there was one thing the soldier didn’t like it was having his carefully laid plans go to waste. WIth Liz in the mix nothing would go right.

Elizabeth made her way over to Meryda, her brother’s girlfriend who was actually a lot of fun, and immediately grew upset to see her in such a state. She had a cast on her left forearm, a brace on her right knee and there were a good amount of bruising and scratches on her face and neck. “What the hell!”

Meryda grinned. “I like her fire.”

“Oh come on Meryda! I have my top Glaives here…”

Liz scoffed and looked over Gladiolus’ choices, rolling her eyes. “You have your biggest that’s for sure. Come on Gladio you know a good soldier isn’t necessarily a big soldier.” Liz informed him flippantly, not willing to insult her comrades, but annoyed by Gladiolus’ choices because he always favored a bigger individual for special jobs. Her brother wasn’t big and he could kick Gladio’s ass. 

Copper eyes narrowed at the smaller glaive who was attempting to get in on what was happening but Meryda said something before he could. “Ok, enough bickering. Though I do agree. Size doesn’t mean anything if you can’t use it, be you small or a mammoth.” Her bright eyes landed on Gladio as if to make her point. He was a good warrior because he trained hard, not because of his size. That was just a bonus. “I want her in.”

“Fine.” The head Glaive threw his arms up in the air and motioned for Liz to fall in line. Which she did with a particularly large smirk on her face. The other men didn’t pay their comrade any mind because they were positive they could all beat her. “We’ll start with endurance.”

The squad started with suicides, in full gear, and while most of the men were fast, compared to Liz they faltered to keep up. She started out slow, building up, until she was once again that blue and black blur that had first drawn Meryda’s eye. At the end of the round Meryda elliminated two individuals.

“Strength.” Gladio called out, knowing full well that Liz would not fair better than his men in this arena. And she didn’t, but she didn’t do a bad job either.

Meryda didn’t judge Liz’s capabilities on what she could do with raw power, but instead she paid attention to the limitations Elizabeth had and how she overcame them with the use of tactical approaches to the situations laid out in front of her. That would be handy in a dire situation instead of relying on brute force. Meryda was mightly impressed. That round she eliminated three. The total was down to six.

“Problem solving.” Gladiolus grunted out the second to last task through his teeth, glaring a hole in the side of Liz’s head at the fact that she was still in the running! Technically he didn’t have a problem with Elizabeth other than the fact that she flouted his authority at every turn and then made up a few. What irked him about her being in the position to actually win and become Meryda’s guard was that she didn’t cut an image that would keep people away from the Priestess and that’s what Ignis had wanted. Meryda’s well being was on the line.

Naturally Liz was a top competitor in the realm of problem solving and made it through the five puzzles and obstacle courses way ahead of the others. This time size did prove helpful as her larger glaive counterparts had difficulty with some of the tasks due to their more impressive builds. Again, Meryda could appreciate the difference in Liz’s size considering she was a rather large, imposing woman and it didn’t always help matters. After another three people were eliminated, only three remained.

Yarrow, Link and Liz. Yarrow was about the same size as Gladio with hair so blond it was white, almond shaped violet eyes and a square jaw that made him seem meaner than he was. Yarrow was a new papa, and he was all softness and cuddles past the hard exterior. But Gods help the man who was going to date his baby girl one day because this papa could and would break a man in two. 

There was already no way that Meryda was going to choose Link. With chestnut short brown locks and matching eyes, he was a pretty boy with a big toothy grin that promised nothing but trouble. The good kind of trouble most girls were after. Not her though. She did not need this Glaive flirting with her, because he flirted with everything in a skirt, and getting Ignis riled. He wasn’t a possessive man, but he was very protective, seemingly stepping into roles other people should have taken on in her life but no one ever did, including herself.

Then there was Liz. Who had really surprised her, but then she shouldn’t have, she was Ignis’ sister after all. Despite the fact that the younger girl tried to distinguish herself from Ignis in any and every way, she couldn’t hide everything. Both of them were insanely smart, with solid battle instincts and a quick head when there was a crisis or challenge. 

Link was out, and while she would have liked to have worked with Yarrow, working with her meant long days and potential trips away from his family. She could not and would not do that to him. “I’ll pick Liz.”

Gladiolus’ eyes bugged from their sockets as he turned to glare at Meryda. “We aren’t even done!”

“I’m done. I’ll choose Liz.” She met Yarrow’s appreciative look and gave him a nod of understanding. With a respectful bow and then gentle hug, he departed. Link on the other hand was not going to go quietly.

“You have to be kidding me.” The tall brunette all but shouted, staring at the small woman beside him who looked very pleased with herself.

“Awesome! I’ll do a great job!” Liz ignored the snarls and annoyed looks flying her way. Making a move to shake Meryda’s hand, she was stopped by Gladio.

“Meryda come on… think this through.” The Crownsguard pleaded with her, motioning to Liz and back again. “Link can offer the protection you need.”

“And what protection is that Gladio?” Meryda’s voice darkened, her eyes narrowing to near slits as she zeroed in on her friend and pushed in on him with her presence. “That I am a poor little woman who can’t handle herself?”

“You know that’s not what I mean…” He tried to backpeddle but he had stuck his foot in the quagmire that was trying to reason with a woman using a man’s point of view. This would not fair well for him.

“No I’m sure not.” Her voice rose an octave and she snapped out, “I am not a child. I have been fighting wars longer than you have. And your King… I could whoop his ass with a hand tied behind my back.” She could and had in a bid to prove that she was a top warrior to a very male driven society. Noctis had swallowed his pride that day and they had all gained a healthy respect for the Strigan women. “And I could whoop your ass if my arm wasn’t broken.” She stated with a jab to his chest before motioning back to Liz. “I want her.”

Gladio straightened his posture and looked down at Meryda with weary eyes. “I can’t allow that.”

Meryda’s brows rose rapidly, dipping into her hair line all but to disappear as she was informed her request would not be followed. Not could not… WOULD not. Now, what she could do was get in a screaming match which would get her nowhere, or play to Gladiolus’ weakness, his pride. “Fine. You beat her in a match and I’ll let you pick whoever you want.” There was a promise in her eyes that when she was better, he was going to get an ass whooping courtesy of her.

Liz was all smiles, rubbing her palms together in anticipation. “Aw yeah!”

“No.” Gladio threw the girl a wicked glare and shook his head. “No.” He was not about to get in a fight with one of his best friend’s sister. There was no way. 

“What’s wrong big guy? Scared you’ll get your ass handed to you?”

He wasn’t going to fall for it… he was stronger than some taunting. Squaring his shoulders he turned back to Meryda and opened his mouth to protest further but Liz cut him off.

“It’s k… I wouldn’t want to embarass you in front of your squad.”

Wasn’t going to fall for it….

Meryda could practically feel the rage bubbling up and out of Gladio and knew he would crumble any minute.

“It’d be a shame for them to see how slow you’ve gotten…”

“That’s it!” Gladiolus finally snapped and stalked toward the mats where he would spar with Elizabeth. Tossing his jacket out of the way, he motioned her forward with a wild fire raging in his copper eyes. 

Elizabeth tossed her coat to the side as well and stepped onto the heavy blue mats that lined the ground. “Ready big guy?”

“Ready.” Gladio crouched into a position that could be used to launch or prepare for an attack. Liz was a good fighter, but he knew that he could draw her in with the desire to lash out at him. After a few moments of waiting, she couldn’t resist rushing him but Gladio overestimated himself.

Massive arms swung to reach for the lithe female, but Liz had anticipated such a move and jerked away at the last minute. Gladiolus stumbled forward, rolled into a tumble and hopped back up only to whirl around and found Liz right behind him. He wasn’t anticipating her to be so close so he didn’t throw his weight into the shift and ended up reaching for her last moment. She might drive him nuts, but he was not going to hit her. He would get her down on the mat for the count and move on from this farce of a test.

Meryda watched the fight rather impressed with Gladio’s control of himself and that he never lashed or struck Elizabeth, while she used a series of quick jabs and hits to knock her larger opponent off of his center of balance. Her hits were only used to stun, not wound. Both soldiers had impeccable skills, however the Priestess was pretty sure that Liz was going to win this, Gladiolus was too emotional, though that was ebbing out of him as he focused on the fight.

In and out Elizabeth weaved, creating circles around the soldier so as to keep him guessing where she was going to come from next. Her moves were methodical, carefully planned, and yet natural so that she was in complete control. Clearly she had worked out this type of fighting style so that it became an effortless dance when she fought a foe. Meryda was interested to see what she would do when overwhelmed with a more intense partner. She would test that theory when her body was healed. While she was trained as a long range fighter, she didn’t mind getting down and dirty and had spent most of her formative years putting people into headlocks and getting out of them.

A shift occured in both fighters and without warning, the two launched at one another. Gladiolus often had the upper hand and would have been able to maintain it, but it was clear Elizabeth had trained herself well when dealing with much larger opponents and always got herself out of trouble. Unfortunately to bring Gladiolus down, she had to go a bit harder, and began delivering a series of kicks up the length of him until all he could do was guard and block, before she curled her thighs around his neck, rolled and tossed him hard on his back. Grabbing one beefy arm, she wrenched it up high so that if the man moved wrong he would dislocate his shoulder.

No one counted because no one needed to. Elizabeth had won.

Which meant that Meryda had her new guard.

The woman hobbled onto the mat as the small blue haired Glaive helped up her superior officer and waited for Gladio’s attention. As Liz made to tease, Meryda held her hand out and the girl immediately quited. The Shield was humbled but he was a warrior, and Meryda could see that he was already mentally preparing himself for some new training techniques. That’s why she adored Gladio, because he was always willing to learn and adapt. “We good?”

Looking from Meryda to Elizabeth adn back to his friend, Gladio ran a large hand through his sweaty locks and nodded. “Of course we’re good.” A disagreement wasn’t going to cause problems in their relationship. This was work, and he had learned long ago how to keep his personal and professional life apart. Holding his hand out to Elizabeth he nodded to her, “Good job.”

Elizabeth really wanted to brag but when Gladiolus didn’t start throwing a fit because he had lost, or made stupid excuses for how she had won, she gained a new respect for the man and held her tongue on it. That and Meryda would probably take her head off. Damn, work Meryda was clearly way different than vacation Meryda. Liz couldn’t help but respect the woman though and was excited to start working with her.

Smiling, she turned to her new boss and asked, “So what have I got myself into here?”

Gladio let loose a guffaw and waved goodbye to his friend who was going to be stuck with the youngest Scientia which meant that she was going to be in for some headaches. Of course Elizabeth would have run into this contest without caring what was at stake, just so long as she had the possibility to win.

Meryda grinned and motioned for the girl to follow her. “You my dear, are now my personal guard.”

“Cool!” Liz followed behind her new boss vastly content with her day thus far. Being a personal guard was a high honor for a Glaive and she was determined to do her best. “So… what do I need to do.”

Meryda grinned and shrugged. “Stick with me kid. We’ll figure it out together.”

*********

Two weeks later.

Alright, so being someone’s personal guard had its perks and had some serious limitations. For one thing, Elizabeth Scientia was a night time Glaive and Meryda was not a night time worker. She was at work, on the dot, at 8a.m. which meant that Liz was also in the Citadel at that time, sometimes earlier on Monday and Wednesday for debriefings in the city that she then had to report to her boss.

One perk, she got to sneak around the Citadel or go bug Prompto during the day and play video games when Meryda didn’t need her.

Downside number two was that she didn’t see a lot of field time… however that led to the next upside with, she got a lot of naps! But she wouldn’t need naps if she got to sleep in…

But naps were fun!

Elizabeth groaned and held her hand out to her brother who handed over a coffee as the two fell in step beside one another to make their way to the offices.

“How was the briefing?”

“Good. nothing out of the ordinary.” She murmured, half asleep. She took a long pull of her coffee and smiled in pleased satisfaction. “Thank you coffee Gods!” 

“Indeed.” Ignis chuckled, glancing over at his sister with a fond glint in his eye. He had been happy that she had won the position of Meryda’s guard. 

The blue haired glaive caught the look coming from her brother and grinned. “What’s that look for?”

Ignis shrugged and then leaned over to kiss the top of his sister’s head like he used to when he would tuck her in at night. “I’m just pleased to be able to spend some time with you. I know I don’t say it often, but I’m very proud of you Lizzy.” His voice was warm, harkening back to late night stories he would tell to get her to go back to sleep after a nightmare. Despite her brother’s time and effort that had been given to Noctis from a young age, he still managed to always have time for her.

Growing up, he had been her hero. Deep down, he still was. A light flush colored her cheeks as they walked into the office where Jilly was sitting at her desk looking extremely amused. “What’s going on?” Liz asked and then heard a large crash.

The secretary giggled and wiped the tears from her eyes before she set back to her work. “Nothing.” Her turqoise eyes were riveted to the papers in front of her but everyone knew she was thinking about other things.

A large crash in Meryda’s office happened and dropping their coffees to the desk, Liz and Ignis set off for the woman only to open the door and find out that she didn’t need help at all. Gladio did.

Pinned to the ground with her bad arm pinning his big head to the flooring, Meryda was sitting atop the large soldier using her knees to pin his arms down. Gladiolus was attempting to use his strength to push himself up, but when he would try, Meryda shifted her weight forward and pressed down against the back of his neck.

“You knew this was coming Gladio!” The ass whooping she had non verbally promised.

“Ah come on Meryda! I know you can fight! But it’s still funny you have to have a guard.” The soldier winced when Meryda’s hand tightened in his hair and began shouting obscenities at him for his commentary.

Ignis guided his sister out of the office and quietly closed the door as though they had never walked in. Glancing down at the surprised Glaive he smirked. “What?”

“That’s my boss!”

“That’s your boss.” Ignis confirmed, enjoying the childish glee coloring his sister’s small face.

Upside… Elizabeth’s boss was a badass. “Ok. She’s awesome. You can date her for sure. And we’re going to be best friends.”

Despite the fear he should have felt, Ignis found that he was rather happy that his sister liked his girlfriend and wanted to make friends with her. Finally at thirty he was starting to repair old relationships and his family was looking more and more complete.


	3. Alliances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meryda is still dealing with the fallout from Hollister being fired. Her own have turned against her and the Glaives aren't having any part of it. When the situation finally makes itself known to the King and Queen as well as Tenebrae's General, Prince Ravus, the tables get turned.
> 
> Ignis watches as the leader his girlfriend was trained to be emerges.

When she walked into her office, all seemed well until blue eyes landed on the top of her desk and noticed an official sealed letter sitting in the center. With unsteady hands, Meryda opened the letter on her desk at first thing Wednesday morning and began to read.

Priestess Strigan,

I regret to inform you that your Glaive Guardian, Elizabeth Kipper Scientia, is officially on disciplinary duty. She is not allowed to return to the Glaive training facilities for twenty one days and she will not be allowed on outings. Due to these circumstances you will be in charge of keeping her with you at all times.

My apologies for the upsetting news.

Shield to the King  
Glaive General

Gladiolus Amicitia.

Rereading the note numerous times, the poor Priestess tried to wrap her head around what on Eos she had done to get herself in trouble. Yes, Liz wreaked a little havoc from time to time, but nothing so dire that she was put on disciplinary status. A frown creased her brows and then her lips as she tried to think of why this was happening. Technically Gladiolus was her supervisor because she was a Glaive, and the business of why she was receiving a punishment was between the two of them. Though usually Elizabeth shared everything with her.

“Jilly.”

“Hey babe, what’s up?” The casual wording informed Meryda that there was no one overly important in her secretary’s waiting room. 

“Is Liz there?”

“No. Gladiolus had to send her home. She’s on three days suspension from the grounds.”

Okay… what had she done? Clearly he had written this informational letter before she had gotten suspended or that would have been inside.

Worried and vastly dissatisfied with what was happening, Meryda thanked her secretary and stood up to go see Gladio. Glaive business or not, she had a right to know who was at least going to replace Elizabeth for three days.

“I’ll only be out for a few minutes.” She hurriedly told Jilly before leaving the offices and making her way down to the Glaive training rooms where Gladiolus could often be found in the mornings. The atmosphere immediately shifted when she stepped in and noticed that it was Tenebrae’s turn for training. The Glaives and Tenebraean guards didn’t always mix well with one another so to avoid problems, those who couldn’t quite fall in line yet were given their own block of time and often training with the Prince.

Ravus however was no where to be seen and the looks being tossed Meryda’s way were anything but friendly. All summer she had suffered the outraged glares and snide remarks, but she never said anything and if someone thought to challenge her she took it head on and usually got her point across.

Still, to have the people she had fought alongside in the war look at her like she was the lowest piece of scum to walk the hallways of the Citadel was like a dagger point to her heart. 

“Well well… she’s coming down to deign us with her presence.”

“Nice to see she can get out from under that Lucian guy…”

“Traitor.”

“Lucian whore.”

“Traitor to the Queen.”

That last one dug deep and Meryda whirled on the small group where the voice had sounded from. What she wanted to do was stalk right up to them and lay everyone of those little boys out flat on the ground, but what she did was to hold her head high and continue her journey to Gladio’s office. Still, the tears of her frustration were clinging to her lashes when she walked in and the larger man noticed.

“Shut the door.” Gladio sighed, absolutely furious that Meryda was upset and when he looked past her out of the massive windows of his office to glare at the Tenebrae guards, they all scattered. Ravus was their commander, but the two of them had a distinct agreement that Tenebrae’s soldiers had been absorbed into the Glaive system and therefore Gladiolus had complete rights to set punishments should he so see fit.

As it was, he was having a hell of a time not with Tenebrae, well not so much, as he was with his own men. For the past few weeks now he had been getting complaints about some of his finest officers, male and female alike, because they were harassing the Tenebrae unit. It’s like summer fever was settling in and acting out in the worst of ways.

“I am going to assign Yarrow to you for the next three days.” Gladiolus had been anticipating her arrival and didn’t bother hiding it.

“Yarrow? But he has a unit to run in the city.” Meryda was confused in the extreme to hear one of the best commanders Gladio had was being yanked from his duties to guard her.

Gladiolus nodded his dark head and made a face that was slightly unreadable, but it was clear he was annoyed. “Yes. He is on disciplinary status as well.”

Okay, what in the name of the Astrals was going on here! Meryda knew she didn’t have the right to ask but did so regardless. “Gladio what is going on?”

“Honestly Meryda I don’t know. I’ve called all of them in that I have been given complaints about but they say nothing.” Which was terribly unlike his troupe. “I’m at a loss.” Mostly because if he didn’t get to the bottom of it soon he was going to have to do more than put them on disciplinary status. He would have to possibly strip some of them of their rank.

“Yarrow will be up this afternoon to see you.” Gladiolus ran a tired hand through his long chocolate brown hair and met his friend’s gaze who looked just as concerned as he felt. 

“Thanks Gladio.” What more could she say on the matter? Turning to go, she took in the sight of the training room still full of her former comrades and felt a twitch of nervousness to go and walk out amongst them again. Yes it hurt her feelings, but Strigans got violent when they were mad, sad, or whatever other negative feeling they allowed themselves to feel. 

The Shield noticed the blond’s hesitation and stood up. “Want me to walk you out of here?”

Meryda shook her head. It would only get worse if he did that. “No.”

This was another situation that the Shield was dealing with that he absolutely hated. “Just tell Iggy…” The man pleaded, his copper eyes were worries for his friend who took on way too much without help. Gods she was stubborn!

“And have him fight my battle? Come on they already call me a Lucian whore amongst other things. If I let him handle this I’ll never get any respect back.” Not that she thought she was going to get it anyway. Squaring her shoulders, Meryda opened the door and stepped back into the fray where she was subjected to the same insults and a few new ones that had been directed at her when she arrived.

The moment Meryda had disappeared from the Glaive facilities Gladio shouted an order for the men to fall in line. He was pissed and if they wanted to run their mouths about a high ranking member of the King and Queen’s entourage, then they could run a few other things. When the Shield was through with the Tenebrae guards most of them were crawling to the showers on their hands and knees, others on their bellies. “I hope this is starting to settle in!” He shouted only to be responded to by moans and groans of defeat. 

One of the men muttered that he was going to tell Ravus to which Gladiolus responded menacingly. “Go tell him… tell him I ran you ragged because of your disrespect to his sister’s Priestess!” The only reason he didn’t say anything was because Meryda had specifically asked him not to. But if this kept up he wasn’t going to maintain his side of the bargain because this was not how he handled things. Those soldiers who refused to conform were beaten into submission or let go.

**

Yarrow, a man well into his thirties and who had been with the same woman since he was twelve, he was looked up to by Glaives and non Glaives alike. His accolades were vast and impressive, and he had even been given honors by King Regis when he was still alive. To say that he was a decorated soldier for the Crown City was an understatement. Though he never boasted and was one of the more humble Glaives around that only endeared him more to the already adoring public.

Which was why no one ever expected him to act out in such a manner toward the Tenebrae guards, when he had preached solidarity since day one. Granted there were several upper ranking members of the Glaives who were in on the situation, having grown sick and tired of seeing a woman who had always been an advocate for her people being snubbed by them.

When the large Glaive knocked and sauntered into Meryda’s office, she gave him a warm smile and motioned him forward. “Good afternoon Yarrow.”

“Ms. Meryda.” He greeted in his deep thick voice, a handsome smile coming out of hiding just for her. He was a soldier through and through. Built much like Gladiolus though broader and a few inches shorter, he was an impressive sight especially with his gorgeous white blond hair and piercing violet eyes. This man was the classic over grown teddy bear, though he could and would turn lethal when the moment called for it. 

“How is Olive?” She asked him softly, enjoying how the battle hardened warrior with her immediately softened at the mention of his little one.

“She’s doing well. Sleeping through the night and all she wants is to cuddle.” Which meant that when he got home, she was perched on him in a refusal to move so that her mother could actually do a few things around the house, even though Yarrow had told his wife that he didn’t care, he knew Olive was a bit demanding. 

The two quietly watched the other until eventually, Meryda broke the silence. “So you aren’t going to tell me huh?”

Yarrow shook his jaw length blond head of hair and gave her an apologetic grin. “Soon though.” Because the Tenebrae group wasn’t going to be able to take much more. Usually he did not condone handling a situation like this but no matter what anyone did, the guys just kept on. They didn’t even listen to their Prince and that was a level of disrespect a Glaive had a very hard time accepting. Their King and now their Queen were to be respected at any and all costs, which meant that Prince Ravus was also entitled to that devotion as well.

Meryda knew when she was defeated so instead of arging she just sighed and said, “Well then, let’s get to work.” She would not pry but if Yarrow was part of this then she knew he had reached the end of his famed patience and was taking matters into his own hands. She could appreciate it. “I really don’t want you to be in trouble you know.”

“I know. Don’t worry.” His smile was warm and reassuring in that special way he had about him. Meryda found that she couldn’t help but feel at ease even if she felt like she should be shouting for him to stop whatever he was doing.

The next two days passed with relatively few problems, including with Ignis who wasn’t even upset with his sister, well aware that whatever it was she was doing, it was to correct some issues in the ranks. For Meryda the evenings were not as easy, her confidence having taken a nosedive as the stares and glares worsened to the point that even the King noticed one day. And said King was furious.

By Friday afternoon the individual’s who had made complaints against his Glaives were called up to his offices and then the Glaives and the King’s Shield were also called in attendance for this meeting. 

The King’s features were severe as he took the time to meet each and every individual’s gaze sitting at his meeting table. There were five Tenebrae guards, two from common houses and three that were related to the royal houses of the country. On his side of this entire affair that Gladio had briefed him on and then he didn’t have the whole story so he called Yarrow and Elizabeth in to fill in the blanks about what was happening under all of their noses.

To say that the King was pissed was a gross understatement of the entire situation. His hands clenched tight against the chair he sat in and it took every scrap of self control Noctis possessed not to launch himself at the Tenebrae guards who were looking to their Prince for help, though said Prince was terribly confused.

“Oh… you wish for your Prince to help you.” Noctis finally lost the battle with his temper as he motioned Ravus forward to have a seat beside him. “You see Prince Ravus… it has come to my attention that ever since Deacon was let go, these five have taken it upon themselves to be extremely degrading toward Meryda.” Blue fire flashed through Noctis’ unforgiving stare when one of the men thought to cut him off.

Ravus went from confused to flat out irate in the blink of an eye. The five Glaives smirked smugly at their Tenebrae comrades and sat back. They weren’t overly comfortable when their King flashed them a warning glare. “You aren’t off the hook. This should have been brought to my attention immediately.”

Yarrow cleared his throat gently and stood to bow before addressing his King. “Highness, I do so apologize for our methods. However no matter the scolding they have received or the time off, their comments have not ended.”

Ravus was nearly rabid he was so furious. “And what are these comments?” He hissed toward his men, throwing his hand out to quiet the Glaives who were more than ready to say what they had been hearing when their supervisors weren’t there.

The ring leader of all of this, a son of Shiva’s house was left to the Prince’s lack of mercies as his two tone gaze settled upon the man. He had been close with Deacon so it wasn’t a surprise to Ravus that he was sitting here.

Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, the man eventually spoke. “Well… we umm.. You see my Prince, she went against the rules. Everything has changed since moving to Insomnia.”

Ravus’ brows quirked up, his voice laced with sarcasm as he nearly launched himself at the boy thinking to attempt for understanding. “She followed all of the rules that your houses put into play. It was your Queen,” He bit out through clenched teeth, “Who forced the change and rightfully so. And it was I, your Prince, who let Deacon go. So tell me who should be getting your wrath?”

The five from Tenebrae could barely breath so intense was Ravus’ aura, that even when they tried to they choked on their words. A few of them even looked ready to faint which was hilarious for the Glaives. 

Noctis flicked a glance to Elizabeth who looked more angry than he had ever seen her and eventually he asked, “Elizabeth Scientia. Since the Tenebrae guards are having difficulty with their words, why don’t you lend them some aid.”

Elizabeth stood up and bowed to her King before handing him a list with dates, times and individual’s present, on what had been said within her vicinity toward Meryda. “There are more of those Highness. From close to twenty Glaives.” She slid the other lists that were folded into envelopes and sealed with each man’s name on the front to Noctis who took them with a trembling hand.

Ravus had already gathered the one Elizabeth had left unbound and began to read through it. Climbing to his feet, he began to pace which made his guards increasingly nervous. “You were aware of this Gladiolus?”

Gladio stood up when he was addressed and gave a curt bow to the Prince. “I found out this morning and have therefore drawn up charges that Ms. Strigan could and would be allowed to file against each of these men.” The list was about five sheets thick and once more the five individual’s from Tenebrae grew very uncomfortable.

The Prince didn’t dare read the list out loud because if he did then he knew he would lash out and deal out punishment in his own way, which was no longer appropriate by Crown City rules and regulations. In Tenebrae he had been the final authority, but here, they had to proceed with more structure due to the size of the population. That didn’t mean that he wasn’t going to think up every way possible to torture them by way of Insomnia’s military rules and regulations. And they were still his men…

Handing over the slips of paper to the King, Ravus paced around behind his men, his coat flowing out behind him with each menacing step he took. “According to that paper you have been saying these things nearly since the start…”

“Sir. It’s just… we are Tenebrae.”

Ravus snapped. Thrusting his face into the man’s who spoke he clenched his armored arm around the man’s throat and screamed. “WE ARE JOINED WITH INSOMNIA!” Releasing him with a hard throw, the Prince glared down the other four who had thought about standing up for their friend but decided against it.

“I do not know why…” He threw his arms up in the air, pacing like a wild man, “This is hard to understand. I do not know why, after everything the King has done for you and the other Glaives, going so far as to give you your own training time because you whine,” He hissed in disgust, his upper lip curled so that his teeth showed. “And you spout on and on about being honorable… yet you slander, willingly I might add, the name of one of the highest ranking members of our society.”

“Yeah but she…” This time everyone stood up and glared at the men. Noctis had been the only one to keep his seat and motioned for the others to settle back down. His blue gaze hardened.

“But she?” He asked quietly. “I do not know how you can uphold the honor of your country and slander a woman who is a Priestess to your Queen. A close friend and fellow soldier to your Prince, and a woman who has kept her mouth shut when you have beaten her down at every turn.” He was more than angry, he was flat out disappointed.

“Well that didn’t give them the right to come onto us. We’re not gay. That’s gross…” The man instantly regretted his words when enraged copper and fury filled two toned eyes settled on him all but willing him to stop breathing. And he almost did. Trying to right the horrible wrong he had just made, the guard stuttered, “I mean… I didn’t mean…”

“Shut up.” Gladiolus ground out, his hands clenched so tight that all of his knuckles popped in succession before he gained his footing and stepped away from the table. If he stayed too close he would body slam him into the ground.

Noctis merely grinned. “It’s gross huh? Well I agree… what they did was gross. You probably felt very undermined, pressured, like your space was being infringed upon?”

“Yeah!” The men all agreed, strangely intrigued that it was the King who was understanding them.

“I mean, how awful to have someone invade your personal space and try to touch, or say whatever they wanted to you… Or to just stare at you from a distance and wink. My, that must have been uncomfortable.”

“Absolutely your highness.” They all nodded their agreement, never noticing the grins on all of the Glaive’s faces.

Noctis nodded his agreement and stood up. “Well, that’s what Meryda went through with Deacon. But she stayed silent, because of this moment right here. When a bunch of backward thinking, jackasses! Would rally with their asshole of a friend and then call her every name in the book and even make up a few. So she endured years of having her space infringed upon, never opening her mouth but dealing with it in the silence. And here I have you, a few weeks after you were dealt the same lack of kindness, and YOU’RE WHINING ABOUT HOW ITS SO UNFAIR!” They would never be able to convince him that they didnt know what Deacon had done. Ever.

Stepping out from behind his chair, Noctis made his way to the five men and bared down on them. He was hardened from war and it gave him that extra edge for talks such as these. “You will report to Meryda and offer apologies. You will integrate back into Glaive trainings. This situation will end without any punishments but if it ever happens again I will demote you all to protecting the gardens! If I so much as think you are thinking a bad thought about the future Elder of the Strigan house, the Priestesses to the Oracle, I will have you suspended for a period I deem fit. Now, how your superiors treat you in trainings or whatever extras they give you is up to them. But if you think to whine about it, then keep in mind that I could have stripped all of you of your rank. Get the fuck out of my office! And if you are ever brought back in here for this so help me… I will turn you over to Ignis Scientia,” Every Glaive winced, very well aware that Ignis was not only protective of Meryda, but of women’s rights in general and he would not take kindly to any of this. “Get out!” He screamed a final time, pointing his finger toward the door as he watched them scurry off.

With his back to his Glaives, he calmed his breathing and very quietly stated, “No more situations on your own. I won’t tolerate anymore of this, not from them and not from you. This goes up the chain of command. If they want to create more problems then Ravus and Gladiolus will be permitted to use whatever means possible to put them back in line.” He would not have dissension amongst his soldiers. “Dismissed.” The others stood up to leave but Noctis signaled for Gladiolus, Ravus, Yarrow and Elizabeth to remain.

When the five of them were alone he turned to them and his face softened and he sighed. “We telling Iggy?”

None of the men really wanted to, but they all knew that he would need to be briefed. When they didn’t say anything, Noctis nodded. “I’ll do it.” He was King after all, and Ignis wouldn’t try to argue too much with what he had done. 

“Ravus,” The King addressed the Prince first and shook his hand. “Glaives train a little differently than you do, they have to for the type of environment they are in. I’m going to request that you turn over your men for Glaive drills.”

The white haired man nodded his acceptance, pleased that the men of the citadel were no longer treating these boys playing men with kid gloves. “Fine by me.” He would continue his duties and after about a month of training with the Glaives he would return to see what his men had to say. If this didn’t break them he didn’t know what would. But he would keep searching until he did. They could all count on that.

Next the King turned to Yarrow. “I appreciate your taking Meryda under your wing so to speak. The men look up to you and will follow your example.”

Yarrow shook his head. “You don’t have to thank me. Ms. Meryda has always been kind to me, and to those men, I couldn’t stand to see her being mistreated.” He had never stood for a woman to be treated in such a manner and he wasn’t about to start. 

“Well go home. Take a long weekend. And then take next week off. With pay.” Dark blue eyes slipped over to Gladio who nodded his approval and smiled at his second in command. 

“Go home to that baby.” Yarrow was looking a little rough around the edges, which was normal for a first time father, and Gladiolus wanted to see him refreshed when he got back. 

Knowing that he wasn’t being punished, just looked after, Yarrow bowed to his King and hugged Gladio and Elizabeth goodbye. “Thank you again.”

The others gave the papa bear of the Glaives a little nod and when he departed with Ravus in tow, it was only Elizabeth and Gladio who were left. “You’re off of suspension. Get upstairs and do your job.”

“Do I fill her in?”

“Yeah.” Noctis wasn’t going to keep anymore secrets about things. From now on when there was a problem they would all work to handle it together. 

Gladio followed behind Elizabeth and waved to his King, “I’ll go get Iggy.”

Goody… Was all Noctis could think as he settled back down into his chair at the conference table and waited. This was not going to be fun.

*****

“Hey baby what’s wrong?” Prompto had been worried when Noctis didn’t show up for supper, so when the apartment door swung open a little past eight, he nearly jumped off of the couch and launched himself at his boyfriend who was barely in the door. 

Noctis caught the smaller blond in his arms and just held onto him. He loved Meryda, but her tendency to stay silent about these kind of matters was going to drive him nuts. She would never allow another woman to suffer the way she allowed herself to deal with. He was absolutely exhausted beneath his anger over the whole thing. “I just need a hug.” He murmured into his boyfriend’s shoulder, nuzzling his head against the juncture where the blond’s cologne stuck to his skin.

Prompto was even more worried now, but he hung tight to his lover and curled him in close against his neck. Gently, he caressed through his long black locks and guided them to sit on the couch together. “Dealing with that Meryda stuff?”

“You knew?!” Groaning into his lover’s shoulder he all but collapsed into the smaller man, iresigned to the fact that Prompto just always seemed to know all of the inner workings of the Citadel. Putting his head down on the jean covered lap beneath him he sighed. “You didn’t say anything… why?”

They both knew why. There was just no point until someone got mad. Who needed to get mad was Meryda. “Does it matter? It’s over now. Hopefully for good.” He whispered against Noctis’ temple, his breath whispering across his satiny skin. 

One could only hope it would be for good but they both highly doubted that 

Noctis rolled to his back on the plush comfort of his couch and smiled up at his freckled boyfriend. “Gods you are handsome. Did you know we were gross?”

“Oh…” Prompto chuckled, “Been a while since we’ve heard that one. I guess it was a guy from Tenebrae?”

Noctis nodded and absently played with the fluffy blond locks above him. “Yep. Wanna go be gross in the bedroom?”

PRompto grin and turned blush red, “You damn right I do.”

“Good… help me up.”

“Ahhh… we’re an old gross couple now.” He chuckled, lifting his King from the couch so that they could spend some quality time together. Kissing his beloved when they were in the door, Prompto was surprised when Noctis tossed him to the bed and crawled up the length of him. 

“I love you Prom.” He purred against his ear, kissing a line from the base to the curled shell before repossessing his lips to lead them both into a night that was all for the two of them and now one else.

When their time was over and the tender moment had turned into something of the past, they were happily wrapped up in the other. After some time, it was Noctis who finally curled Prompto beside him so that he could enjoy the weight of his beloved against his body. Most nights the blond cradled him, but not tonight. Tonight, after the whole mess with the tenebraean guards, Noctis felt that he needed to protect what was his because if he ever heard someone speak about Prompto like that they would get a beating. Not from their King, but from the man who loved his boyfriend.

Said blond was not complaining, in fact he said nothing, as he curled against Noctis’ chest and gently kissed the scarred skin beneath him. Life couldn’t get much better than this moment for the gunslinger who was always happy to finish out a day laying with the love of his life. “Love you too Noct.” He murmured as his dark blue orbs fluttered shut and sleep claimed him.

Noctis flipped on the t.v. for a little background noise that his overworked mind still needed, but it wasn’t very long after he covered the two of them up beneath the heavy blankets that the King also drifted off to sleep.

***

Ignis had left from the King’s chambers in a rush, not even bothering to go upstairs to fetch his things, instead he bolted for the open street and ran home. Hoping that if he burned off some of his paranoia he would be able to greet Meryda in a more stable mood, but when he reached his floor after very brief words with the doorman, he burst through the front door of the apartment he now shared with his girlfriend and came face to face with a room full of strangers he had never seen before.

“Darling…” Ignis gazed at the numerous stares flying in his direction but it was Meryda who motioned him forward. There were six individual’s circled around Meryda, dressed in robes of Tenebrae, including Myori so he assumed that these were the elders. The others, Maery and Miva standing behind their mother and a handful of characters that took up post behind the other elders, whom he deduced were members of their households. Wearily, he met the gazes of several individual’s he had was fairly certain were the culprits behind the murmurs in the Citadel. Taking a chair from the kitchen table he settled behind everyone and gave his beloved a nod that he was ready.

Meryda took a deep breath and gazed around at those who had come. Some were confused, others angry, and then there were the others who wore looks of pride when they looked at her. “I appreciate you all coming. Now I’m going to make this quick because there is no point in drawing it out. Some of you are pissed that Deacon was fired. I’m sorry. I didn’t ask for that.” Her eyes snapped at a man who scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Something to say?”

“Well you sure didn’t stop it.” He bit out, crossing his arms over his chest as though he was the most righteous being in the room.

“No I didn’t. My Prince made a decision. And honestly had he done those things to another woman I wouldn’t have stood for it. Now my mother has raised me to protect our houses, and I’ve let my blind loyalty keep me silent. Someone who tries to coerce someone into something they don’t want doesn’t deserve that loyalty. I will uphold my house, I will carry out my duty. I am the eldest and with that comes certain responsibilities.” She paused and when no one said anything Meryda continued, her voice never faltering.

“Now I know that our lives have changed and some of us are having a hard time adjusting. It’s not easy, I miss Tenebrae and the role that my queen used to have everyday. Yes, I am friends with Noctis, but that is not my relationship with the king. The King is someone I work for and my Queen has asked for my respect.” Of course Noctis had her respect because he had earned it. Her gaze was solemn as she looked around at her comrades, those who had always supported the crown no matter what differences they had together.

“I will always be loyal to Tenebrae. It is my home,” This time her voice cracked with emotion and several individual’s bowed their heads as tears overwhelmed them. The transition into another city state had not been easy for anyone, and while she put up a strong front, there were things Meryda couldn’t even begin to accept in relation to what she had lost. “The longer we keep acting like Lucis is our enemy and not our ally, then the longer we will be in this war. It is not Lucis who is putting us through this, it is ourselves. We are getting mad at each other and for what? Trying to move forward? Moving forward does not mean forgetting.”

“Maybe not for you! But what about us?” A young woman called out from behind the Leviathan elder. This was one of the Elder’s granddaughters.

“What about you? Tell me?” Meryda implored her, desperate to help make changes so that everyone could feel useful and worthwhile in their new lives.

The Elder tried to shush her but Meryda held up her hand and motioned the woman forward. “This is part of the problem. Silencing our people. How can we do anything if we don’t speak up. Here we are amongst family… even if we don’t always get along.” Her gaze landed on Elder Hollister when she said it but even he looked weary with the burden of fighting an unbeatable foe. No one would ever win the war against losing one’s home if they didn’t allow themselves the freedom of accepting something new.

The girl made her way forward and faced her Priestess. Some of the other woman in the room looked on at her bravery and felt for the first time since they had arrived in Insomnia, that maybe they could be just as brave. “Well… It’d be nice to have a job. A lot of us have skills, but a lot of individual’s don’t want to hire us.”

Ignis was the first to raise his hand and Meryda gave him the go ahead to address the room. There were a few grumbles but the enigmatic Advisor focused on the task at hand and that was making these women feel empowered instead of trapped in an unforgiving city. “If I may,” Ignis waited for the young woman to acknowledge him and when she gave a soft nod of her head, he pressed on. “There is a service site in the downtown square. The people who work there would be more than capable of helping you find work. Close to your homes. Also, I would not mind looking into courses at the local universities for you all to take,” He would work to get the courses at no charge, or at the very least, heavily discounted. 

Meryda smiled and so did the young woman who smiled shyly at the King’s right hand man. When he stepped forward and gave them his card she blushed prettily and even Meryda couldn’t help but grin at the easy way in which Ignis won everyone’s favor this night. “Those of you who are interested or want help, call my office, Meryda and I will find a time to meet with you and go to the service site to have your skills evaluated. Chances are though, that a lot of you would even be able to get jobs in the Citadel.” 

There were a number of openings that had yet to be filled, mostly because people didn’t want the hard work that went with working in the King’s building, just the prestige. The individual’s from Tenebrae however were hard workers and would benefit from the positions that could be offered to them. Still, his goal was to have their skills evaluated first and should they so decide to venture out into the capital for other endeavors.

After Ignis had finished passing out his card and returned to his seat, Meryda turned back to the group and finished what she had called them to say. “From this moment on we move forward together. If you have something to say to me or you aren’t happy with how I handled something, then you come to me. If the only way we can solve it is with fists, then so be it. But I wouldn’t tolerate another woman being treated like I have been, so I’m not about to take it anymore either. My mother raised me better.” Myori’s eyes lit up in pride but she held her tongue and let her daughter finish.

The others kept quiet, seemingly thinking about what Meryda had just said, and eventually they all nodded their agreements. “Good.” Meryda’s eyes softened even as she met the gazes of the men and women who still weren’t sure, or who continued to harbor some anger toward her. “If anyone wants to say something in the future and I get wind of it, you can bet you’ll get a challenge.” Challenging another member of a royal house meant that one individual had been wronged and now said person was calling out the bully. A fight would ensue until one of them was down and refused to get up or just plain couldn’t.

Meryda had been challenged and challenged a dozen times or so in her youth and she hadn’t lost one. Each person in this room knew it too and they didn’t want to be another on her list. “Thank you all for coming. I appreciate it.”

Ignis didn’t take his warm green gaze off of the woman who at long last had stood up for herself against her people and also for them. Each person who had come into their home was given the Priestesses time as she stood by the door and shook their hands, hugged or just gave a polite nod to them for showing up. The line dwindled to just the Strigans and each woman hugged and expressed their pride in the eldest daughter. 

When Meryda’s family departed, Ignis walked to his girlfriend and immediately pulled her into his arms. Still dressed in her work clothes, her body was tense from the stresses of her day, but in her willingness to be held, he felt that she was starting to let go of most of her guilt that she had been carrying since the fall of Tenebrae. “I am so proud of you Meryda.” He curled his arms tightly around her back, head against the side of her thick blond locks. 

“You aren’t mad that I didn’t tell you?” Sometimes, even though Meryda knew that this man would move the heavens above to make her even slightly happy, she had only to say the word. All of her life she had fought, bled, sweat, and cried to get what she wanted, but with Ignis all she had to do was give him a look and all of her obstacles disappeared. 

Ignis shook his head and took hold of Meryda’s lips with his own. This wasn’t a kiss of passion, just an embrace that promised everything he had never needed words to tell her. When he pulled away only enough to look down into those powder blue wonders set in her lovely round face, Ignis took the time to simply touch her, using his motions to ensure that she knew the anger that he did harbor was not for her, only those who had hurt her.

Her hands trembled as they reached to remove the pristine glasses on the handsome face above her own, and with the reverence she had always thought he deserved, Meryda moved her fingertips over the outline of his scars before leaning up to kiss at them all, ending with the final burn mark that he believe marred his features. In her eyes it only highlighted them. “I’m so tired Iggy.” 

“I’m here now Meryda. You can rest.” For now she had succeeded in her goals, and had fought bravely against those that she had grown up looking up to for advice and guidance. From here he would shoulder the burden and ease her down off of the cliff’s edge so she could find rest. 

For the first time in her life, Meryda truly allowed someone other than a family member to look after her. The whole evening Ignis tended to her, ensured her comfort, and dried her tears when they came without her even realizing it. The whole summer had been a wonderful, crazy, and trying event that she would go through all over again if she had to. Just to be in this man's arms, she would relive it all as many times as the Astrals required. 

She would do anything for Ignis…

Anything at all... 

*******************

End. There will be other stories to come that are mostly just fluff and drama free. (Ish... there's always a smidge of drama)


End file.
